Heritage advocates maintained that having another shopping mall in Manila City to replace Rizal Commercial Complex will do no good.
IT IS OF NO GOOD. Heritage advocates maintained that having another shopping mall in Manila City to replace Rizal Commercial Complex will do no good.
Heritage advocates scored the plan of Manila City Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada to convert the prewar memorial coliseum into a shopping mall.
One of them, Ivan Henares, who is the president of the Heritage Conservation Society, asked if the city is in dire need of a shopping complex and he suggested for the conservation of the historically significant infrastructure.
Henares said, “It is architectural, historical and culturally significant — being the national stadium, an Art Deco masterpiece of Arellano, and host to significant national, regional, and continental sporting events in our nation’s history are more then enough reasons to call for its protection”.
Another heritage advocate, Liliane Manahan echoed the statement of Henares and suggested to reuse the structure in an adaptive manner to preserve the “architectural integrity and assign it a more creative purpose than just a mall”.
Manahan further suggested that the edifice be restored, upgraded and kept for its original intent for the city to have a more interesting architectural landmarks.
Manahan said that she will never understand why an edifice with historical moments, such as the Rizal Memorial Complex, be demolished and replaced by a modern building “with yet another mundane use”.
Last May, Mayor Estrada and officials of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) discussed the transformation of the building in a meeting.
The meeting was originally arranged to discuss the plan of Estrada to convert the building but in the end, the former president and the city government officials promised vowed to cooperate with NCCA to conserve the building.
The Rizal Memorial Coliseum was built in 1934 in the Art Deco style and designed by architect Juan Arellano.